1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a 3D information generator for use in an interactive interface; particularly, it relates to a 3D information generator using triangulation method to generate distance information. The present invention also relates to a method for generating 3D information.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a device which detects movement by image recognition, such as a mouse or a game controller, only generates 2D information. Such 2D information generator typically includes a light source, an image sensor, and a processor. The light source projects a light beam to an object; the image sensor receives light reflected from the surface of the object and converts the reflected light to an electrical signal; and the processor generates 2D information according to the electrical signal. To generate 3D information, it usually requires another device such as an accelerator or a gyro-sensor and it requires combining the information generated by the accelerator or gyro-sensor with the 2D information. Such kind of 3D information generator is therefore complicated in regard to hardware and calculation. There is another prior art device which uses time of flight (TOF) of the reflected light to obtain 3D information of the object, but it requires higher hardware cost.
US 2006/0269896, US 2008/0007722, and US 2009/0262363 disclose another type of 3D information generator, which uses a single dot laser beam to scan the object so it takes a relatively longer time to complete scanning. For applications which need to handle a large size of images (such like an interactive game), the frame rate is too low that it can not generate 3D information in real-time.
In view of the foregoing drawbacks, the present invention provides a 3D information generator for use in an interactive interface and a method for generating 3D information. The 3D information is generated by triangulation calculation, and the low frame rate issue is solved, such that 3D information can be generated in real-time.